Royally Sick
by Gummybear1178
Summary: Ben gets sick and Mal takes care of him.
1. Chapter 1

Ben woke up feeling awful, his throat was dry, head pounding, stomach churning, muscles as sore as right after the tourney championship with all the training to go with it. All and all, he felt horrible. He rolled over slowly, his whole body aching with every small movement, he groaned slightly as he stood up. Walking slowly over to his desk he started working on some paper work for the kingdom over some bill the council wanted to pass. His head still pounding at every word he read, but he continued on until it was time for him to get ready for his classes, even though he was king he continued his classes at Auradon Prep. As he got ready his muscles protested his every movement.

Ben finally made it out of his room and downstairs to eat his breakfast with his mother while his father was away visiting some royal family Ben couldn't recall at the moment

Though he mostly just pushed his food around on his plate. But a few minutes into this his mother became suspicious

"Ben, sweetie, are you alright?" Belle asked in her usual motherly and caring tone

"Yea mom, just a bit tired" Ben's scratchy voice came out, his throat protesting his every sound that came out.

"Are you sure? You sound and look sick?"

"Mom, I am fine" he said choking back a cough, he glanced at his watch "Oh, mother I am running late, I'll see you after school" He called running off towards the door

Once he was out of earshot he allowed himself to cough, once he made it to school he went to his locker and grabbed his stuff he needed for his first 2 classes. On his way back he saw his girlfriend, Mal, at her locker.

"Hey Mal" He said walking up to her

"Hey Benny Boo" She joked as she grabbed her last book from her locker and shut it then turned to see him

"Ben? Are you okay?" she asked concern coating her every word, she walked slightly closer to him lifting her hand up to feel his forehead. He immediately flinched away from her touch, a very unusual thing for him to do as he would normally lean into any contact with Mal

"Yea, I'm fine" he told her nonchalantly, once again having to hold back a cough

"Are you sure, you don't look so good."

"I'm fine, just didn't get much sleep last night" Ben defended with a half truth

"I thought Auradonians didn't lie?" She teased

"We don't" He said

"A huh" she said not believing a word coming out of his mouth.

Ben started walking towards his 1st class, Mal had the same class, so it gave her an excuse to follow.

On their way there he started to lose his footing, and had to lean against the wall to steady himself, Mal immediately rushed to his aid

"Ben, you are not alright. I'm bringing you back to the castle" she told him leaving no time for an argument of how he was feeling fine

"Okay" he said in response leaning heavily onto Mal as he recovered from his dizzy spell

Finally they got back to the Palace where Mrs. Potts opens the door and immediately going into a mothering mode rushing them into the castle where Belle waited her arms crossed looking at her son.

"Hey, Mom" he said knowing he was in trouble

"Don't 'Hey Mom' me mister, you knew you weren't feeling well this morning and you denied it and went to school, and what would have happened if you had collapsed, judging by how heavily you are leaning onto Mal for support I am assuming this, on you way there instead of near Mal?" She questioned, she then changed her stone cold tone into a loving and kind voice Mal had come to know and love "Mal, would you mind bringing him to his room while I go fetch Doc, and Mrs. Potts could you go get the ingredients for some soup so he can have it later please?"

Mrs. Potts answered with a nodd and a small curtsy and rushed off to the kitchen

"Of course and I'll stay with him because we both know he will immediately try and do his kingly stuff rather than resting like he should" Mal told her boyfriends mother

"That he will. I'll be right up, and I'll let Fairy Godmother know where you are so you don't get in any trouble with your teachers" Belle said as she walked off to call Doc

"Come on Ben" Mal told her royally sick boyfriend, he responded with a small moan of agreement

Finally they made it to Ben's room, Mal supporting almost all of his weight now, up stairs might she add. She gently helped him into his bed taking off his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt to allow him to cool off some with as much sweat as was coming off of his body. She went into his bathroom and filled a small bowl she had found in there, she filled it with cold water and grabbed a washcloth. She walked back into Ben's room seeing him trying to get up.

"Ben." she said sternly, giving him the message instantly to lay back down.

She sat on the bed beside him putting the cold damp cloth on his forehead, he flinched slightly at the sudden cold touch as it came into contact with his skin

"shhh" Mal comforted massaging his shoulder, as she could see the tension in them it was so prominent.

"I'm not sick, I need to go over the papers the Council of Side-kicks sent me"

"No, you need to stay in bed and get better" Mal told him softly

"I'm not sick" He said again, his words slightly off his sound from his congestion

Mal knowing there would be no argument he would listen to decided to strike a deal

"Fine, how about we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?" He asked curiously

"Well, your mom is going to get Doc, and if he says you are fine, then I will not stop you from doing any paperwork as long as you stay in bed and rest, and if Doc says you are sick then you have to listen to me and follow Doc's orders?"

"So either way I am stuck in bed?"

"Yes, but if you are sick then I will also make you some cookies once you feel good enough to eat" She offered knowing that ever since she made cookies for him that weren't Love-spelled, he couldn't resist them

"and if I don't agree?"

"Then, no cookies, no dates for 4 weeks, and I will let your mom show me all of your baby pictures"

"ugh fine, but no love spell cookies" he joked

"So we have a deal?"

"Deal, but I get a date when I am feeling better, and by that I mean after Doc comes in here and tells me I'm fine" He said finishing it off quickly as he burst into a coughing fit

"Okay..." Mal said rolling her eyes at her royal pain of a boyfriend

About that time there is a small knock at the door with Belle and Doc filing in

"So I hear we have a patient to attend to" Doc said as he walked in, Belle following a few steps behind

Doc checked over Ben, checking his throat, eyes, mouth, nose, etc.

"Well, from what I can tell you have the Flu, I will have to run a test to be certain. But for now, bed rest, lot's of sleep, no paperwork as that seems to have put a lot of stress at the moment on you, causing your immune system to be slightly weaker as well as causing dizzy spells, which should go away once you lessen your stress. So long as you do not over do it once you are better you should be fine so long as you have breaks in your stress even if it's just a couple hours a week. I understand since you are only a few months into being king you haven't had very many breaks yet as you have been getting everything in order." Doc ordered "So repeat after me. No paperwork. No stress. Lots of sleep. Stay in bed. Take your medicine. Got it?"

"No paperwork. No stress. Lots of sleep. Stay in bed. Take my medicine."

"Good, and anything else Mal or your mother add." he told him knowing that Ben would find some loophole

"And listen to anything else Mal or my mom add." Ben repeated again

"I'll go run the test and bring you some medicine for you in just a little bit" Doc told Ben and then walked out of the room, giving a small bow as he did

Belle followed behind after placing a small kiss on Ben's forehead, and with that Ben and Mal were once again left alone.

Ben groaned as he tried to sit up only for Mal to place a hand on his shoulder and gently push him back

"Ben, you need to rest" She commanded in a soft voice

"But I-" He was interrupted by a fit of coughs, he continued once he could speak again, though his voice was extremely raspy "I- I want to talk t- to you"

"Fine but only 5 minutes" She gave in and sat on the bed next to him and helped him sit up slightly so she could put some pillows behind his back allowing him to sit up easier and use less energy

"Don't you need to go to class?" He asked once she finished putting the pillows behind him

"No, your mom called Fairy Godmother and let her know what was going on, I am excused from classes until you are 110% I just have to do some work while I am here." She told him

They continued some small talk, Mal doing most of the talking, Ben using minimal words as to not irritate his throat any more than it already is until Belle came in with some medicine

"Doc finished the test, you do in fact have the flu. Here is your Medicine" She told him then turned to Mal "He needs to take it every 6 hours" Mal nodded and took them from her hand and placed them on Ben's night stand next to the pitcher of ice cold water and a cup that had been placed there at some point in time. With that Belle left the two alone.

"Here you need to take your medicine" Mal told Ben as she filled the cup about a fourth of the way with the water then handed him the pill to put into his mouth, as he did Mal put the glass up to his lips and he took a small sip. Once he finished his medicine his eyes were drooping slowly as his body begged for some sleep.

Mal started to gently move the pillows to where they were no longer supporting his back and helped him lay down. As soon as his head touched down on the pillow he was fast asleep.

A few hours later Ben woke up, covered in sweat, but he was freezing. He sat up and started coughing and shivering all at the same time. Immediately Mal stood up from the window seat she had been sitting in sketching and ran over and sate next to him rubbing circles on his back waiting for his coughing fit to end. When he did he pulled all of the blankets around him shivering.

"Aww... Is my little Benny Bear cold?" Mal teased as she wrapped her hands around him in a tight hug rubbing up and down his arms warming him up with body heat

"Yes he is my little fire breathing dragon" He teased right back never missing a beat

"Well I guess my fire a can warm you all up" Mal teased then looked at the clock on the wall, it had been 6 hours since he took his medicine last

"Ben, you need to take your medicine" she told him refilling the glass from earlier and getting another pill out

"Ugh, fine. I'm hungry" He said groaning as he took his medicine

"Ok, I will be right back I am going to go see if Mrs. Potts can make you some soup" Mal told him, he nodded and waited until she was out the door

Once she was out and he could no longer hear her footsteps he got out of his bed and went over to his desk and pulled out the paperwork for the Council of Side-Kicks, and began working on it.

So enticed with his work he didn't here Mal coming back in almost a half hour later

"BENJAMIN FLORIAN!" She fussed as she saw he was at his desk working rather than in his bed resting.

"Mal Bertha?" He said wincing knowing he was in trouble

"Benjamin Florian get in your bed this instant this is your only warning or there will be consequences to your actions, remember our deal earlier" She reminded as she set his soup on his night stand

"But I need to finish this page" Ben whined in a very un-kingly like manor

"Benjamin Florian, what did doc say? No working on your kingly duties, if you do you will be staying in that bed even longer" she scorned

"Fine, but I still get a date and cookies when I am better" He said and got up and started walking across the room only to stumble and fall only a few steps into it

"Ben!" Mal shouted in worry running over as quickly as she could and caught him just before he hit the floor

"Ben, this is why you are not allowed out of your bed right now, all the stress from you duties as king combined with the flu" she worried "You can get worse if you keep this up"

"F-f-fine" he stumbled on his words as Mal supported all of his weight and walked him over to his bed laying him down in a sitting up position

"You good to eat some soup?"

"Sure" Ben said reaching for the spoon and bowl of soup

"No, Ben your muscles are too weak and sore just lay back" He complied and spoon fed him some of Mrs. Potts' famous home (castle) made chicken noodle soup, he only managed a few bites until his hand flew to his mouth and the other pointed to the trash can, Mal realized what his motions meant and grabbed the small basket he had by his bed and shoved it in his face as he let the contents of his stomach come right back up through his mouth, she rubbed circles on his back until he was finished, she pulled it away and gave him a glass of water.

"You ok now?" Mal asked still rubbing his back

"Yea, I guess" He said his voice slightly raspy

"You want some more?" She asked gesturing to the bowl of soup now slightly cold

"Now right now"

"Ok, I didn't think so but I was checking. If I leave you in here by yourself long enough to bring this down to the kitchen, do you promise not to get up or doing anything you aren't supposed to do?"

"Or, you can just press that button over there and some one will come get it and you can come sit with me" Ben offered wanting to keep her close

"Sure" She walked over and pressed the button by the door and set the soup on the table by the button and walked over and sat next to Ben, having taken her shoes off ages ago, she sat Indian style and Ben put his head in her lap. She ran her fingers through his hair slowly and gently in a comforting way, until he fell asleep once more.

Sometime in this process Belle had come in to check on Ben and take the bowl, but froze at the sight she saw. She smiled and slipped her phone out and took a quick picture and took the still mostly full bowl and snuck back out, still smiling at her son and her son's' girlfriend. Mal has changed so much since she first came here, and she will make a great queen one day she thought to herself.

* * *

They woke up a few hours later Mal now leaning back on the headboard asleep, but Ben was now awake watching his girlfriend sleeping peacefully. He rarely got to see this side of her, completely at peace, no stresses weighing her down, she wasn't a VK, she was just a normal girl asleep. She wasn't worrying about her mother comign back and attacking, nothing but peace.

But the peace and serenity had to come to the end as he began coughing, he started to sit up, struggling slightly only for Mal to wake up suddenly and helped him sit up and rubbed his back until he stopped

"Sorry" Ben said once he was certain he wasn't going to continue coughing

"What?" Mal asked incredulously

"I said I am sorry, I mean you looked so peaceful and then I coughed and woke you up" He told her, his voice still raspy from coughing

"You don't have anything to apologize for, your sick Ben, naturally you are going to cough." She said finishing with a small laugh, Ben smiled and laid his head back into Mals lap and she started to run her fingers through his hair, when she glanced at the clock and saw he should have taken his medicine 10 minutes ago

"Hey Ben, you need to take your medicine real quick" she told him slowly putting him into a sitting up position and she stood up as he whined about it tasting disgusting and not needing it anymore

"Ben, listen to Mal." a voice suddenly came from behind, it was Belle peaking in with a small bowl of Blue Bell Cookies & Cream Ice cream and a spoon

"But-" he went to complain but was cut off by his mother

"I don't care how bad it tastes you need to take it, then you can have some ice cream to bring down your fever some and cool you off. And yes it is Cookies & Cream your favorite" Belle told him, he finally gave in and took it, then Belle walked over with the ice cream and sat on the opposite side of the bed that Mal was on, having Ben in the middle of his 2 favorite girls in the world. She fed him small spoonfuls like a mother would a small child, even having the air plane come in a few times.

"Mom, I can hold it the bowl and feed myself all by myself" He whined, Mal made a mental note the Ben was very whiney when he was sick,

"I know, but I don't care, you need to rest and get better so I will feed you. And that includes your kingly duties, don't think i did not hear about that"

Ben sent a small glare over to Mal who shrugged her shoulders and took another bite out of her strawberry ice cream Belle had brought along with Ben's

A while later after the ice cream and conversations were over, Ben using minimal words as to not aggravate his throat any further. Belle had bid them good night at 9 o'clock telling them she would see them in the morning left. Ben had fallen asleep a little before Belle had left. Mal set an alarm for 4 in the morning to wake up and get Ben to take his medicine then rolled over and went to sleep

* * *

Mal awoke to a blaring alarm at 4 in the morning, she rolled over and turned it off sat up and went and grabbed the medicine off the table filled the glass with some water that had been refreshed, she set it on his night stand and kissed his forehead gently, feeling how hot it still was she gently shook his side while whispering sweetly in his ear to wake him up. He woke up almost completely incoherent, so she easily got him to take the medicine with no hassle and then decided while he was like this to take his temperature again, she got him to open his mouth and put it in and she waited for the beep, when it did she took it out and gently helped Ben lay back down and he was out, she looked at the temperature, 103.6, it was better than earlier with a 104.2, but not much better. Since she was awake and she didn't feel like she would fall asleep anytime soon, she went over to Ben's window seat and grabbed her sketch book and pencil from where she had left it earlier and turned to a new page and began to draw Ben sleeping in his bed.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed when a small knock came from the door, as Belle came in with a 2 small plates of breakfast, one with fruit and eggs the other with fruit and pancakes, and 2 glasses of Orange juice, and a small cup of honey tea. She came and sat next to me, setting the food down on the table next to the window.

"I thought we could have breakfast in here" she told me then putting the plate of eggs and fruit and the glass of orange juice in front me after pulling the small table in front of us. "Just incase he was awake I brought some honey tea." She added after taking a small bite of fruit

We ate there in a comfortable silence, until Belle broke it

"How has he been?"

"Good, well as good as he can be while he is sick. This morning I woke him up at 4 to take his medicine, he was still half asleep so he took it no problem and then i took his temperature, it was 103.6. It's still better than yesterday morning at least. He has been resting since"

"That's good, I'm glad he has you to look after him."

"I'm glad I have him" Mal answered with a smile

"and I am sure he is glad to have you, and I'm glad to have you as a daughter, that is if you'll accept that I think of you as one"

"Yea, yea I do" we both smiled watching Ben sleep, it seemed as though nothing could ruin this perfect moment, or so we thought...

* * *

Ben started tossing and turning around in his bed and yelling in his sleep, kicking and shouting, incoherent words. Both Mal and Belle jumped up and rushed to him but Mal beat Belle there

"Shh.. Ben, it's okay. Wake up it's just a nightmare" she soothed rubbing her hands up and down his arms, gently trying to wake him, she started to shake him slowly trying to get him out of this nightmare he seemed to be in, suddenly he jolted up fists punching, Mall narrowly dodging onto the face but did get clipped in the shoulder. It seemed he was using his full strength as he did though and it was enough to send her backwards and land on the ground hard. Mal let out a small shriek of pain as she hit, at the sound of her pain Ben came back into reality, rushing out of his bed

"Mal! Mal, are you okay?" he rushed out coming to her side and sitting next to her adrenaline allowing him to momentarily forget about the fact he was sick.

Mal sat up slowly her face squinched in pain

"Yea, I'm good" she said wincing as she spoke and stood up "Are you ok?" She asked with a pained expression still on her face

"Mal, dear! Are you ok?!" Belle shouted now out of shock rushing over checking her shoulder

"I'm fine, I've dealt with a lot worse, it'll probably just bruise, but Ben, are you ok?"

"Mal, why are you asking me if I'm ok, I mean you just got hit pretty hard!"

"Ben, you were having a nightmare, what was wrong?" Mal asked

"Maleficent, she had escaped and had taken you..." Ben trailed off as if starting to relive the vivid nightmare over again

"It's ok Ben, I am right here and I am fine"She told him doing her best to hide her pained expression, because that hit hurt pretty bad but she knew she would be fine she had dealt with a lot worse, this was nothing

"No your not Mal, you just got hit hard, how did you get hit... Oh my goodness Mal! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to- oh my what have I done, I am so so so sorry Mal I-"

"Ben, it is fine, you were waking up for a bad dream I should have been more prepared to dodge, and look you missed my face and only clipped my shoulder, it will just bruise and I'll be fine. Ok?" She comforted

"Ok, but I am still sorry" It seemed like he was gonna say more but he started coughing again, adrenaline rush now gone.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed my little beast" She said helping him over to his bed and covered him back up, then looked at the clock and realized it was 10, time for him to take his medicine

"Sorry Beasty, but it's time for your medicine again" She told him getting the medicine and the glass of water from Belle who had just refilled it and gave it to him and he took no issue, probably because he still felt bad about accidentally hitting Mal

* * *

A few days later and he was as good as new, and back in class, after their first day back Ben and Mal went on a date; which Mal baked cookies for for Ben as she had promised once he got better.


	2. Authors Note! SEQUEL

I just posted the long awaited Sequel with Mal sick under the title of "An Ailing Dragon" please go check it out, it is just over 8 thousand words, and I know many of you have been requesting for this sequel for quiet a while so please go check it out!


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